Louis Pierre Alexis Pothuau by Reutlinger

Louis Pierre Alexis Pothuau (28 October 1815,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 7 October 1882) was a French naval officer and politician. He served as deputy for Paris, then as a

sénateur inamovible A senator for life () was an elected position under the French Third Republic, similar to that of senator for life in other countries. At one time the French Senate was composed of 300 members, of whom 75 were ''inamovible'' ("unremovable"). His ...

. He was twice Minister for the Navy and the Colonies and ended his career as France's ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Life

His family originated on

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. He left he naval school in 1832 and (under the

prince de Joinville The first known lord of Joinville (French ''sire'' or ''seigneur de Joinville'') in the county of Champagne appears in the middle of the eleventh century. The former lordship was raised into the Principality of Joinville under the House of Gui ...

's command) took part in the bombardment of Mogador in 1844, then in the

bombardment of Odessa The Bombardment of Odessa was an action during the Crimean War in which a joint Anglo-French squadron of warships attacked the Russian port of Odessa. Background and formation On 6 April 1854, soon after the declaration of war by Britain and ...

and the

siege of Sebastopol A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...

. He was made ''

contre-amiral Counter admiral is a military rank used for high-ranking officers in several navies around the world, though the rank is not used in the English-speaking world, where its equivalent rank is rear admiral. The term derives from the French . Dependi ...

'' in 1864 and during the siege of Paris in 1870 commanded the forts in the south of the city, then headed a division in the battle at Gare-aux-Bœufs. He was promoted to vice-admiral and elected deputy for Paris in the national assembly. He joined the ''Centre gauche'' parliamentary group and entered the first ministry formed by Thiers as minister for the navy and the colonies (19 February 1871 – 25 May 1873). He was made a

in 1875 and sided with the opposition during the

16 May 1877 crisis Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number) *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen * ''Sixteen ...

. Due to this he was re-appointed as naval minister in Dufaure's ministry (13 December 1877 – 4 February 1879). Finally he became ambassador to London between 1878 and 1880. On 12 October 1882 he was buried in the 14th division of cimetière du Père-Lachaise. In 1893 a cruiser named after him was launched.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pothau, Louis 1815 births 1882 deaths Politicians from Paris Naval ministers of France Members of the National Assembly (1871) French life senators Ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom French military personnel of the Crimean War French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French Navy admirals